


To Learn How to Live

by moon_bathed



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, F/M, Gen, Harry Potter Epilogue What Epilogue | EWE, M/M, Multi, Other, Platonic Relationships, Post-Battle of Hogwarts, Post-Second War with Voldemort, Tooth-Rotting Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-18
Updated: 2021-03-18
Packaged: 2021-03-27 07:48:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,265
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/30119505
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/moon_bathed/pseuds/moon_bathed
Summary: The War is over and Harry is back at Hogwarts. A few months away from 8th year graduation, he wishes to understand what is the word for the new comfort he's found in old friends.
Relationships: Luna Lovegood & Harry Potter, Luna Lovegood/Harry Potter, Neville Longbottom & Harry Potter, Neville Longbottom & Luna Lovegood & Harry Potter, Neville Longbottom/Harry Potter, Neville Longbottom/Luna Lovegood/Harry Potter
Comments: 1
Kudos: 15





	To Learn How to Live

**Author's Note:**

> I had this very specific scene stuck in my head: Harry, Neville and Luna going on a picnic. So I kinda wrote this little something.  
> The kind of relationship they have is entirelly open to interpretation. Whether their feelings are platonic or romantic, it doesn't really matter, I just wanted to make this as comfortable and serene as I could. These three people are my golden trio era favourites, even though I'm usually a marauders era person, so excuse me if I want them to have happy moments together.  
> Also, english is not my first language, so if there are any mistakes just me know.
> 
> You can find me on tumblr at @moonbathedchild

If you had asked Harry, at fifteen years old, if he could see himself still being at hogwarts in 1999, he'd say "Probably not, I'll have graduated by then.". If you had asked Harry, at fifteen years old, if he could see himself lying on a flowery meadow with Luna Lovegood and Neville Longbottom beside him, he'd laugh at your face. The thing is, Harry, at fifteen years old, wasn't particularly gifted at Divination, and therefore could not have predicted the twists and turns his life would take in the years following those hypothetical interrogations.  
For instance, it was May of 1999 and he was still a student at Hogwarts, as were most of his classmates. There was a picture of a laughing blue haired baby by his bed now. His kid. Well, not exactly his, but his nevertheless, in the ways that mattered. He wandered around with Luna a lot more, and went to watch Neville take care of his plants quite often.  
It was strange, really, how much he enjoyed spending time with the two of them now. That was not to say Harry didn't still love his other friends with his whole heart, of course. He loved Ron's jokes and protectiveness, Hermione's always-on-the-go attitude and hard determination, Ginny's hot head and sincerity. But Neville and Luna started to drawn him in with a sudden feeling of longing, a sort of tender yearning he hadn't notice before, despite being friends with the two of them for years.  
Being with Luna felt like a fresh breeze. The way she moved and talked and smiled was all air. Featherlight fingers tracing the lines of his palm, flowing long waves of tangled blond hair, free eyes lost in the stars. Walking around barefoot with her was like taking a deep breath and forgetting any problems had ever existed, like escaping to another universe.  
And then there was Neville. Oh, with him it was different. Being with Neville felt like a warm hug, that kind that unclenches all your muscles. It wasn't like taking a breath, it was like letting go of one you had been holding for too long. His laugh and his voice and his passion were all earth. A spot of dirt on the tip of his nose, careful hands brushing away from Harry's cheeks the tears he would only dare to shed with him, long nights of lost sleep and soft words. Laying down with his head on Neville's chest wasn't like running away, it was like coming back home.  
It had been going on for months now, this need to be close to them. Harry had a hard a time explaining it. Maybe it was something about their... What was that thing Luna was always talking about? A force, a colourful energy around a person. Auras! That's it. Maybe it was something about their auras that set them apart from the others. A feeling of no urgency, no demands, no danger, no fire. Something he had failed to notice, or perhaps hadn't believed he had time to enjoy, before the world came crashing down before his eyes in a final battle and he was given another chance, to learn how to live without the constant presence of a very real imminent threat. He was on a mission now. Bringing himself to find the name for this feeling, this light sensation that...

"Harry?" Luna said from her spot by his left. "Are you sleeping?"  
"No." Harry answered, opening his eyes only to be blinded by the retreating sun shining on the grass he was currently lying on. "Just thinking."  
"Good thoughts or bad thoughts today?" Neville asked from his right.  
"Good ones."  
"I was asking because, if you were sleeping, you would miss me offering the last pudding." Luna said, taking a spoon and a small plate from the picnic basket.  
"You can have it, I made them for you."  
She smiled thankfully and began calmly eating.  
"It'll get dark soon, we should start walking back to school." Neville said.  
"We should." Luna agreed through a mouthful of pudding.  
"Yeah." Said Harry.  
They stayed for another twenty minutes.  
  
"Oh, Merlin's balls!" Neville yelped, suddenly standing up. The other two stared at him questioningly. "I promised Sprout I'd water the nocturnal plants tonight! I completely forgot!"  
"Nev forgetting something? Well, that's unheard of." Harry laughed as Neville shoved the picnic towell at his face.  
  
They walked back hand in hand. That was something he did with them, too. Harry found he rather liked it, holding someone's hand. Not to rush each other up when being chased, not to make sure you didn't lose sight of each other while hiding. Just for the sake of it, to be close and feel another's touch. It was a simple habit, really, something he saw other people do all the time. But for himself, the casual proximity of fingers interlacing with his was practically otherworldly, and he wished never to lose this tingling sensation that came with two hands locking into each other.  
They reached the school and Neville rushed in the direction of the greenhouses, pushing himself to his tippy toes so he could place a see-you-in-the-dorm kiss to Harry's forehead, and then a see-you-tomorrow one to Luna's nose.  
Harry offered to walk Luna to her tower, but she declined, kissing his cheek, and saying she needed a bit of alone time and frankly thought that so did he. She was right, of course. Luna was good at reading his mind.  
He stood outside and watched her retreating form walk away skipping, hair and skirt swept by the wind as she disappeared into a corridor. Then turned around and saw Neville sprinting down the green hill, grass and dirt flying from under his shoes.  
It hit him as he walked back to the eighth year common room. The sudden realisation of remembering a word. Oh, that was it. A fresh breeze that carried you away from your worries or a dirt stained hand that brushed the bad dreams away. The weight of a hand on his. Picnic baskets and flowery meadows on a spring Saturday. That's what he had longed for but never had time to enjoy. No urgency, no demands, no danger, no fire. That was it. Peace.  
He walked into the common room and smiled as Hermione smacked Ron across the head with a book and he laughed, kissing her cheek and making her laugh too. Ginny had snuck in somehow and was teaching Padma a hex that would make that prick that was bothering her regret the day he was born. Dean was cleaning smoke dust from Seamus face with a paper towell. Lavender and Parvati were sitting on the sofa, legs and hands tangled together. Hannah and Susan were betting on who would win the chess game, Earnie or Theo. There were shouts and laughter coming from every corner, a perfectly chaotic atmosphere only most of his friends thrown together into a single room could produce.  
He waved at everyone and went up the stairs to the dorm, probably still empty at this time. As he climbed into bed, kissing the tips of his fingers and pressing them to the pictures on his bedside table, Harry came to the final conclusion. He was drawn to Neville and Luna for their peace, but there was still room in his heart for the opposite of that. And that was all right. He had been given another chance to learn how to live, and what was life if not a permanent mix of peace and chaos?


End file.
